


Prescription for Happiness

by duckiesandlemons



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Medical School, Multi, Street Performance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-03-21 12:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3692052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckiesandlemons/pseuds/duckiesandlemons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patient Name: Yuuri</p><p>Prescribing one street performer to provide happiness and love for an indefinite period of time.  Take once with every meal.</p><p>Signed: Yuuri, M.D.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His Red Eyed Cutie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mizael](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizael/gifts).



> This was supposed to be like three thousands words for the Arc V 30 Day prompt smile, but it got out of hand. Too out of hand. I have too many projects I'm gonna--

“You have to see patients tomorrow, get some rest,” Dr. Izayoi pats him on the shoulder and then leaves for the day.  She has a function to attend to later on, she tells him.  Though really it’s just a big celebratory party for one of her friends winning some big championship title.  Yuuri hasn’t really been paying attention, too busy poring over diagnoses and patient charts and scripts and all sorts of things jammed into margins.

He had a patient earlier that day complaining about an ache in their chest, referred to him from general care and x-rays had shown nothing abnormal--

His cell phone goes off, an obnoxious tweet from Dennis gracing the screen.  Yuuri doesn’t even give it a second glance.  Just turns off his phone and goes back to poring over the copies of the patient x-rays made and placed inside the patient’s chart.  Maybe he missed something that could happen.  He needed to know because the patient had a follow up appointment the next day and he needed _something_ to tell them.

“Bye Yuuri, see you tomorrow!” one of the nurses yells at him through the door.  He can hear the squeak of her tennis shoes down the hall.

He’s still got nothing.

He’ll just go home and check his books then.  Maybe there’s something he forgot (which is kind of bad and also kind of embarrassing).

“Oh, Doctor, there you are--I have a question--”

Except Yuuri is held up once again by another nurse, discussing with him about possibly taking on another patient tomorrow if possible because of some reason or another that Yuuri can’t really process at the moment.

“Sure.”

“Thank you so much!”

He’ll regret this in the morning.

His phone goes off again and Yuuri half expects it to be another text from Dennis.  When he checks it the time reads six twenty p.m, he’s been here since _four a.m._ , and the text is from Sora practically _begging him_ to come and join him and some others at this new restaurant that opened up.  In the high end of town.

Yuuri’s still dressed in his scrubs, in a pair of beat up tennis shoes that he’s had since his first year of med school, and his lab coat.  There’s a dark stain on the front of his scrubs from where he accidentally spilled his lunch earlier.  

_Meet us at seven!!!_

Yuuri doesn’t even have time to change.  

 _Can I at least change?_ he texts back.

_No_

Yuuri’s going to kill Sora.  

So now he’s rushing out the doors of Pulmonary Care, to one of the back exits of the hospital, swipes his badge across the scanner, and is out and on his way to wherever this restaurant is.  Because Sora’s a little shit who for some reason would rather eat up all of Yuuri’s time over leaving him alone.  He keeps his lab coat on for the sake of looking just a bit more professional.  

Just a bit.

“Oh--sir, excuse me--”

“What is it--”

Yuuri turns around, stares into startled red eyes, and the first thing he thinks is “ _What are the chances that in this entire god damn world I’d run into my doppelganger?_ ”  The second is “ _shit he’s kind of cute._ ”  Yuuri leaves it at that.

“Uhm, you dropped this?” the other man holds up Yuuri’s wallet.  How it even fell off of his person Yuuri can’t even fathom.

“Thank you,” Yuuri takes his wallet back.  This red eyed wonder kid smiles, face bright, and Yuuri feels his heart stutter in his chest (arrhythmia is not a thing you get from just looking at a person).

“No problem, Doctor!”

Yuuri remembers he looks a bit like crap, and that this cutie who helped stopped a disaster is dressed in the the cutest vest and tie combo he’s ever seen.  With jeans.  What a dork, Yuuri wants to think, but no.  

No.

He’s just staring at the other’s ass as he walks away to a small set up on the street, leaning down to grab something.  It takes all of Yuuri’s will power to rip his eyes away and check the time.  It’s six forty-something, he’s going to be late--

That guy is still cute.

Yuuri wonders if he’ll see him again and how screwed will he be if he does?

 

\-------

 

“Are you doing okay today, doctor?” the patient he’s seeing today is this nice, elderly lady who had been on the phone earlier talking to her grandson.  He heard things like “no, Yuuma, I’m not dying, Grandma is just getting her lungs checked out” and “have you eaten breakfast yet you can’t do good in university without eating first.”  A typical grandmother, a caring one.

“I’m fine,” he tries to keep his yawn down.  He had stayed at the restaurant far too long last night, because Sora had gotten _Dennis_ there too, along with Serena, and Dennis’ text from earlier _had been_ about this restaurant date come on Yuuri hear a best friend out.  Yuuri had taken great pleasure in Serena shutting Dennis up by shoving his head down on to the table.

“That’s good,” and they go through their typical routine.  He asks the usual questions, goes through the typical motions, and when everything is done it’s really just a case of bronchitis.  Just as the doctor who recommended her to him thought, just take this medicine, drink plenty of fluids, so on and so forth.  

She must have been brought over because of her age, and fear of it being something more.

“Come back if it gets worse, okay?” he tells her with a small smile.  It’s a bit forced.

“Of course!” she bows.  “Sorry for troubling you.”

“Not at all!”

When she leaves, a fellow resident laughs at him when he comes back into their shared office.  “Honestly I think they keep sending all these people over because you’re cute and they request you,” his companion says.  “You heard the rumors about you, right?”

“No,” Yuuri’s voice is deadpan.  Of course he’s heard them.  Not hard when nurses chatter non-stop about that “purple haired cutie down in pulmonary care.”

“Must be lucky to get so many patients.”

“Not really.”

“So, you gonna try to get certified after this or do another year of residency.”

“Probably another year.”

“Where at?”

Yuuri thinks of red eyes.

“Hematology.”

“Wow, if you had said surgery I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Yuuri likes cadavers, he likes dissecting corpses, but he doesn’t like operating on real people.  He likes to think he’s good at what he does, but it’s not fun when someone’s life is put in your hands under the knife.

Yuuri leaves the hospital, looks in the direction he remembers the guy from yesterday being at, and only sees non-descript people.

 

\-----

 

“Hematology, huh?” Dr. Izayoi sounds amused as she says this, but leaves it at that.

So he might have said that on impulse.  It happens.

“Will this come back to haunt me?” he asks after five minutes.

“Possibly.”

“I’m switching to become a researcher in micro.”

Dr. Izayoi laughs.

Yuuri decides to eat off hospital grounds for lunch that day.  He tells Dr. Izayoi this, talks about that one restaurant down on the corner.  

“If you go, can you pick me up something from there?”

“Sure.”

The restaurant is pretty popular, it seems, because he’s forced to wait in a line.  It is the lunch rush, but he hadn’t expected to see so much staff and students from the med school.  Usually they crammed themselves in the McDonald’s across the street, or at the cheap Chinese place next to it.

“What do you wanna get?”

“Hmmmm, I dunno maybe their house special…”

“How do you think you did on Dr. Arclight’s test--”

“Did you get that e-mail from IT recently?”

Yuuri texts possible menu items to Dr. Izayoi.  She opts for the teriyaki burger, says it’s been a while since she’s had something like that.  Yuuri still doesn’t even know what he wants and is stuck staring at the menu.

“I like some of the melts they make here,” the voice is right behind him, and enough to make Yuuri jump and fumble with his phone.  His heart is racing just a bit, but he won’t admit that.  

He collects himself before turning to face whoever spoke to him.  

Yuuri _almost_ forgets what he’s about to say when confronted with familiar red eyes and a very familiar smile.  Yuuri notes that this time he’s wearing not as dressed up as yesterday, a plain plaid button up wrapped around the waist and a white v-neck.  Still jeans, and boots that had seen better days.

“Oh, you don’t remember me, huh?” the cutie (Yuuri remembers him it’s hard not to considering he answered a question about his future medical career based around this guy’s _eyes_ ) laughs.  “I’m kind of dressed down because I’m not performing today,” a smile, “but I like eating here so I come a lot.”

Yuuri’s mind drives into the gutter on that last bit.

“Any suggestions then?” pat on the back for not stuttering there.  “This is my first time here.”

“Hmmm, well, their turkey melt is pretty good but--”

Yuuri doesn’t even know why he pays attention to every single word this man with the brightest red eyes he’s ever seen (and if he wants to be a poetic piece of Shakespearean trash like Dennis had been that one semester he’d even compare them to god damn _rubies_ ) about _melts_ of all things but here he is.  Both place their orders, Yuuri’s holding a brown paper bag in his arms with both his and Dr. Izayoi’s food, and his new companion is still chatting away and laughing.

Yuuri doesn’t want to go, but he has to.

“See you later!”

“You too,” and Yuuri waves.  If he hadn’t been trying to keep up professional appearances his entire arm would be waving.

“Welcome back,” Dr. Izayoi greets when he returns.  She happily takes her food and returns to her desk, and he heads back to his own office.  It’s not until he sits down that he realizes he didn’t ask for a name.  The man with the red eyes is still labeled as “cutie” in his mind.

He startles his fellow resident when his head hits the desk--hard.

 

\------

_Yuuri, Dennis said I wasn’t cute and that is a total lie!  I’m cute, right?_

Yuuri blearily looks at the text on his phone, decides it’s too early for this, and rolls right on over and goes back to sleep.  It’s only eight p.m.  Yuuri had to pull out a 24 hour shift, mostly because of _paperwork_ and he just wants to rest.  It didn’t help they had a case of someone with pulmonary edema.

That had been a barrel of fun.

Yuuri groans in protest as his phone goes off again.

_Come on answer meeee I don’t want Dennis to win!!_

Yuuri debates the benefits of throwing his phone at the wall, thinks about the cost of repairs, and texts back:

_Of course you are_

He almost adds “dearest disciple” at the end of it, thinks better of it (because Sora is attending culinary school, not med school), and sends the text.  He drops his face back into his pillow, finds he can’t sleep, and then starts debating the merits of getting up to get food.

Yuuri finds himself looking up street performers in Maiami instead.

There’s a “Sakaki Yuushou” mentioned, the top result really, and so Yuuri reads up on him.  Finds out he had been really popular, but disappeared one day, left behind a wife and a son.  Yuuri tries to find for names so he can look them up.  The writer of this post (who had a username of “Declan” though?) had done their research well, and Yuuri, after a bit of reading, finds out that the wife had been Sakaki Youko and the son Sakaki Yuuya.

Yuuri types in Sakaki Yuuya’s name in hopes of getting something, anything.

He’s about to click on the images tab for his search, only for his phone screen to go dark, the low battery symbol flashing.  Yuuri forgot to charge his phone.

He drops it on his bed and groans.

 

\-----

 

It’s one of Yuuri’s rare off days and so he’s determined to try and figure out who that cutie with the red eyes really is.  He dresses his absolute best, makes sure every single strand of hair on his head is in place, and heads on out.  He doesn’t make any status posts about being off, doesn’t mention his plans to anyone, because the last thing he needs is tag alongs.

Tag alongs named Dennis, Sora, and Serena.

He hangs out where they first met, near the restaurant, and thinks maybe there might be other places.  Although, he’s not sure where considering that both times they met were by chance.  But Yuuri is smart, and he remembers things.  And what he remembers is that after their first meeting the other had walked towards a small set up on the sidewalk further down and away from the hospital.

Yuuri heads that way.

The buildings open way to more shops, more eateries, and the sidewalks are crammed with people clustering together in various places.  It’s the first time he’s been down this street despite working so close, and he notes that a vast majority of people are watching...street performers.  There looks to be a martial arts display off on one side--or two people very into stage fighting.  Another group of people are clustered around a girl singing, and even more what looks to be a ventriloquist.  Yuuri can’t quite tell.

So the red eyed cutie is a street performer--

He thinks back to what he read last night and the name “Sakaki Yuuya.”

But in all honesty, Yuuri doesn’t even know if his wonder boy is performing today.  He had mentioned off days when talking with Yuuri in that restaurant.  Besides, where to even begin looking on what is essentially street performer central?

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” the phrase is said so loudly, so clearly, Yuuri has to stop and see where it’s coming from.  He follows the sounds of loud cheering and possibly the fluttering of wings towards another part of the street--a bit further down.  The crowd is larger, comprised of a lot of children with their parents, or people on dates or hanging out.  They’re all watching in wide eyed amazement at the street performer in the center of their huddle, and Yuuri recognizes him immediately.

Sure there’s extra frills, a white shirt with fanciful ties and an ornate vest different from when they first met.  Sure there’s red and black diamond printed pants that stop at the calf, glossy dress shoes and black socks (stockings? possibly Yuuri can’t really tell from this distance).  Clothes a lot more ornate than the last two times Yuuri’s seen him, for sure, but it fits everything that he’s doing.

“Today, let me show you a world that you’ve never quite seen before!” he’s saying these lines, cheesy as they are, with such passion, such joy, that Yuuri almost forgets to breathe.  He’s too intent on seeing what is going to happen next.

“First, can I get a volunteer?”

Yuuri tries to get himself up there in time to volunteer himself, but a little girl darts forward.  His red eyed cutie grins, the smile reaching his eyes, and easily picks the girl up. _He’d be good in pedes_ , is what Yuuri thinks.

“And what’s your name?”

“Ayu!”

“Okay Ayu, ready to help me out?” he says this with such joy and such charm Yuuri wonders if he can even bring himself to tease this man even a little.  If he’s even able to with how hard he’s fallen.

“Yeah!” and Ayu’s placed back on the ground, and Yuuri’s eyes just stay on the performer he’s been crushing on hard since he first laid eyes on him.

Yuuri makes sure to not miss a single moment of the performance.

It’s when the performance is done and the crowd starts thinning out that Yuuri approaches.  His red eyed cutie is cleaning up, cooing at one of the birds from his performance as he puts it back up.  “Gonna head home, gonna get you all pampered and fed,” Yuuri hears him mumble and it’s probably one of the _most adorable things_ he’s ever heard.

He wonders if he can convince this performer to come to the hospital and perform in the pediatrics areas.

Yuuri coughs, startling the man enough that he gets tangled up in some of his own stuff and drops to the floor.  The birds let out alarmed noises.

“O-ow, ow, oh--!”

Yuuri counts this as sort of revenge for the restaurant incident.

“Hello.”

“Hey!  So you saw my performance?”

Yuuri has a million things he could say on it but he settles with a, “Yes.”

Another bright smile, “So, did you like it?  Did it bring a grin to your face?”

Yuuri doesn’t quite know how to answer that, he’s never been one for smiles.  Unless you count the ones he gives to patients.  “I did,” he says.  “You’re...very good with your hands.”  He makes sure to put a purr to those last words.

Either his red eyed cutie is oblivious, or chose to ignore it, as he laughs.  “Thank you!” his smile softens some.  “Took a lot of work--but ya know I had the best teacher!  My dad was pro at this stuff.”

“Who is your dad?” Yuuri will just try again when they opportunity presents itself.

“Sakaki Yuushou,” it all sort of clicks in Yuuri’s head at that.  His red eyed cutie is Sakaki Yuuya.

Yuuri had not been prepared for falling for the son of a famous street performer and magician.

He had not been prepared for Sakaki Yuuya to be a total heartthrob.

“I’ve heard of him,” Yuuri says.  “You were taught well.”

“Right?” Yuuya laughs again.  “One day I’ll...I’ll surpass him.  Not just because I want to but like...I feel like I’ll accomplish something?”

That makes sense.

Yuuri had really only went into med school at first because it had been challenging and _fun_ , especially compared to the fact he barely had any struggles going through school.  And from med school there were _more_ options to branch into, with an added benefit of things he’d be doing not just being wasted.

“I can understand that,”  Yuuri helps Yuuya finish packing up.  “Let me help you move your things to where you’ve parked.”

“Oh, you don’t have to--”

“No, I will.”

Yuuri’s going to get as much time as he can with Yuuya.

“Right, I knew I was forgetting something,” Yuuya looks at him, red eyes still sparkling, “my name!  I’m Sakaki Yuuya!”  Yuuri’s not going to say that he already knows that thanks to some internet stalking.

“You can just call me Yuuri,” he keeps his voice smooth.  “I was wondering, Yuuya, if perhaps we could eat together somewhere?”  He’s careful about not calling it a date.  Yuuya nods his head.

“Sure! After I get my birds taken care of and put up back home in their larger cages!”

Does Yuuri get to make a house visit oh how forward--

“So I can meet you there?”

Oh. Nevermind.

Yuuri’s not giving up without a fight, however, “I can help you there as well, that way you’re not wasting gas or anything.”  It’s a bit of a flimsy excuse, considering Yuuya wouldn’t be wasting much anyways.  Probably the same amount either way.

“No, it’s fine,” Yuuya tells him.  They reach a van parked in one of the back alley lots, and Yuuya unlocks it.  “I can take care of them on my own, and besides my apartment is kind of a mess anyways,” he gives Yuuri a sheepish grin.

 _Can’t be as bad as Dennis’ apartment_ , Yuuri wants to say.  

“Are you absolutely sure?” he opts for that instead.

“I am,”  Yuuya opens the sliding door, placing in the bird cages and his trunk.  Yuuri hands him the small sound system.  “I’ve been doing this on my own for about...six years now?  It’s all good.”

He also takes the money bag from Yuuri, nodding at the amount of money inside.

“Two people will make the work faster.”

Yuuya thinks on this, Yuuri might have a chance.

“No, really, it’s fine, ah, also Yuuto may be there.”

Yuuto?  Who the hell is Yuuto?

“I...see,” oops, Yuuri let his control slip some there.  Yuuto probably isn’t anyone really _close_ to Yuuya.  At least, not in the way _Yuuri_ wants to be.

“Ah, Yuuto is like...he’s one of my friends from school and he’s another performer like me but he’s later on in the day so he just crashes at my place.”

That makes a bit more sense.

“So if he’s sleeping I don’t want to make too much noise,” Yuuya follows it up with a shrug.  What a sweetheart. Yuuri is never letting him go.

“Does the new Italian restaurant that opened up near downtown work for you?  Or is that too expensive?”

“That works, I got some money to spare,” Yuuya’s eyes crinkle at the corners and _he has dimples Yuuri is not going to make it._  “It sounds good to me!”

Yuuri places a hand on Yuuya’s arm, “If you need me to cover for you I can do that too, I don’t mind--”

“But it’s your hard earned money--”

“Yuuya, it is fine with me,” he bites his lip a bit and puts on the best pleading expression he can.  

“Well…”

“Think of it as a treat from me for such a good performance!”

Yuuya doesn’t look too convinced, but he agrees.

Yuuri finds himself making his way back to his own place with a skip to his step, along with the biggest smile he’s given in _years_ making its way on to his face.  He’ll just have to change a few things about what he’s wearing just a bit, fix some other things, and then he’ll be ready.

He’ll also have to thank Sora later on for having dragged him out to that restaurant earlier--it gave him the perfect place to bring Yuuya.

 

\----

 

“Ah, Yuuri texted me!” Sora’s face lights up and he forgets all about the cake batter he’s making as he picks up his phone.  “Serena, Yuuri texted me!”

“That’s nice,” she flips the page of her textbook.

“I wonder what it says--AH!”

Sora sounds downright offended.  Serena looks up, expression still phenomenally _stoic_.  A testament to how long she’s spent around Sora.  “What is it?” her voice reminds flat, too.  The best thing to do when it came to dealing with Sora is not fuel the fire.  Something Dennis still needed to learn.

“He just--Serena read this look at this!” Sora’s cheeks puff out.  “What even is this!?”

_Thank you for suggesting such a nice spot for a date earlier this week!  I’ll make sure to thank you by sending you the best cake from the best bakery in town!_

Serena snorts.

“You got replaced,” she says.  “...not like you were in the number one spot in the first place.”

“That is so mean!”

“At least you’re getting a free cake from this--oh.  Isn’t the best bakery in town the Kurosaki Bakery though?”

Sora muffles his scream in his hands.


	2. That not so date but totally a date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That date goes a lot better than planned--wait, it's not a date. It could be a date, it's not a date, but hey Yuuri you have a wonderful smile!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-beta'd :'>
> 
> Lots of back and forth.
> 
> Yuuri's friends have horrible timing.

“Sorry I’m late!”  Yuuya comes running up in a pair of black jeans, a nice red button up, and a silk tie with the knot close to his throat.  It’s endearing.  “I was trying to find nice clothes that weren’t my performance clothes, aha,” a weak laugh.  “I don’t think I really succeeded.”

“You look wonderful,” and it’s the truth.

Yuuya blushes a little, “Thanks.”

Yuuri wants to pull his cell phone out and snap a picture.

They get seated relatively quickly, Yuuri having called to make reservations in advance.  Yuuya looks a bit out of his element, gaze flicking around the restaurant nervously.  Yuuri wonders if this is the first high class place he’s been to in a while.

“So, uhm,” Yuuya speaks up, “I know you work at the hospital but what do you do?”

“I’m a resident,” Yuuri answers easily, “in pulmonary care.  I need to be there a year before I can go on to get certified.”

“Oh, so that’s like?”

“A lung doctor, to put it simply.”

Yuuya nods in understanding.

They’re tucked in a booth a bit out of the ways, which is perfect for Yuuri, and he crosses his legs, lets his foot brush against Yuuya’s leg.  Yuuya doesn’t even show any signs of noticing.  “So are you going to stay there?” he asks.

“I might go for another year of residency.”

“But you only need one?”

“In a different area.  I went mostly into internal medicine.”

Yuuya nods slowly, “So what are you going to go into next?”

Yuuri remembers the answer he impulsively gave his fellow resident in the past, remembers the reason had been because of Yuuya’s eyes.  “Hematology,” he answers, the word slipping easily of his tongue.  “It deals with blood.”

“Somehow that seems to fit you,” Yuuya laughs.  Yuuri’s heart flutters again (Tachycardia cannot be caused by people, Yuuri tells himself).

He tucks a lock of hair behind his ear, “Thank you, Yuuya.”  

“No problem!”

A waiter comes to take their drink order and an appetizer.  Yuuya’s always wanted to try calamari, he tells Yuuri, so is it okay if they can order that?  Which Yuuri tells him it’s _fine_ and Yuuya’s smile is bashful.  He smiles _so much_ and Yuuri wonders how is it that he’s fallen this hard?  How could one street performer make him fall to his knees and then some?

“How did you get into street performance?” it’s Yuuri’s turn to ask questions this time.  “I’m sure your father must’ve had some influence--but you didn’t need to follow it.”

Yuuya hums, crossing his arms and tapping at his bicep (Yuuri could see the bulge of muscle and that just made him sweat a bit), “Hmmm, yeah, Dad did push a lot of it but I also wanted to do it on my own?”

“Any reason why?”

“I...this is kind of embarrassing to say, and really cheesy,” Yuuya laughs, rubs at the back of his head, “I just...I like seeing people smile.  I like bringing those smiles.”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” if anything it just only drove in the final nail to the lid of Yuuri’s proverbial coffin.

Their waiter comes by with their drinks, placing sweet tea in front of Yuuri and a glass of water (no lemon) in front of Yuuya.  “Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?”

“Uhm,” Yuuya scrambles for the menu, the blush on chis cheeks from his earlier admission becoming darker for not being ready, “c-can you give me a minute?”

“Same, please,” Yuuri opens his menu up as well.

“Of course! Your appetizer will be out shortly, as well!”

“I’ve never eaten here before, so I don’t know what’s good,” Yuuya says.  He’s staring at the menu with narrowed eyes.  

“Then let me return the favor from our second meeting,” Yuuri tells him.  Which is kind of a lie because Yuuri’s only been here once before, when he was tired and in scrubs and a lab coat smelling like sterilized hallways with a giant food stain on his front.  He doesn’t even really know _what_ to suggest but he had gotten a seafood dish last time and that had been pretty good.

“Thanks!”

“The seafood dishes here are nice if you like that sort of thing,” Yuuri also thinks back to one of the pasta dishes Serena had gotten.  Serena usually doesn’t talk much about what she’s eating, but years of knowing her allowed him to pick up on small cues.  He had seen how one bite of her dish had her eyes sparkling, and she had quickly taken another bite.  “And their baked pasta dishes are wonderful as well,” Yuuri, at least, can easily sound like he’s not lying.

“Hmmm,” Yuuya eyes the menu choices from the sections Yuuri suggested.  “I guess I’ll go simple, maybe just the lasagna then?”  Yuuri nods his head.  He’ll just get what he got last time.  The waiter comes back shortly with their appetizer, placing that down, and then taking their orders.

“So you like making people smile,” Yuuri continues their earlier conversation after their waiter leaves with their menus.  “How long did it take you to learn and master all those magic tricks and such?”  

Yuuya has to think for a bit, “I was...probably learning the basics around six?  Dad taught me everything he knew, and I kept at it.  I watched every performance of his I could when not in school.”  Talk about dedication.  At six, Yuuri had started attending dinner parties and formals, dressed in uncomfortable formal attire and feeling restless.

“So you just kept at it,” Yuuri leans forward, hands clasped under his chin.  He lets his foot run up Yuuya’s leg.  Yuuya still hasn’t noticed.  “And I noticed that you’re wonderful with kids.”

“I love them!” Yuuya blurts out almost immediately.  He coughs.  “I mean, kids are really great and they have the cutest smiles,” not as cute as yours though, Yuuri thinks, “and they’re really eager to participate.  I just...kids just have a lot of fun in them that helps me bring that out in their parents and other adults who are watching.”  Yuuya’s expression turns fond, “Like, it’s so nice seeing adults break out into happy smiles and laughs because their kids are having fun--or to see one volunteer after a kid has and just grin along with us.”

“You would be wonderful in pediatrics,” Yuuri tells him.  “Kids love you enough as it is, and it would really comfort them.”  Yuuri’s done his time with pedes in pulmonary care.  Children get anxious and stressed sometimes, and he’ll admit that he’s not the best when it comes to them.  He sometimes ends up making them cry more often than not, though afterwards he’s holding them on his hip while he talks with their relatives or guardians.

“I wouldn’t be,” Yuuya shakes his head.  “Hospitals make me a bit nervous, so working in them wouldn’t be all that great for me.”

That’s understandable, too.

Yuuri keeps running his foot up and down Yuuya’s leg.

“Well,” he says, taking a sip from his sweet tea, “have you thought about _performing_ for some kids in pediatrics?”

Yuuya is about to reach for a piece of calamari when he asks this.

“Performing?”

“Yes, for the kids in the hospital,” Yuuri finds himself smiling, just a bit, “You can go room to room, and do what you need to do.  The kids would love it.”  Yuuya doesn’t say anything.  He just holds on to that piece of calamari, looking at Yuuri with questioning eyes.  Yuuri’s foot stops moving and he finds himself getting a bit antsy, “...is it a bad idea?”

Yuuya shakes his head, “No, no, I just...you look...really nice when you smile.”

It’s Yuuri’s turn to blush.

He coughs, hides his face in his drink and takes a few more sips. “I--I’m not really one for smiling so,” his fellow resident had once compared one of Yuuri’s smile to a grimace and a promise of death, “and they’re not much.  I smile for patients but--”

“You should...y’know...smile more I mean,” Yuuya fidgets a bit, “because it really fits you.”  Yuuri is too flustered to say anything, or even stop Yuuya as he continues speaking.  “And I want to see it more so,”  Yuuya’s own smile is blinding, “I hope I can make you smile more!”

Yuuri’s mind is torn between “oh I know how you can make me smile more” and “oh god you’re too pure I don’t deserve _any_ of this.”  He can’t even really bring himself to say anything, just a muffled almost squeaked out “thank you” that’s reminiscent of his first time going out with someone he thought he liked and they complimented his eyes.  As ridiculous as that absolutely sounds.

“Yuuya,” Yuuri finally gets himself together, “you should eat the appetizer before it goes cold.”

“Oh, right!” and Yuuya pops the calamari into his mouth.  His eyes widen, “Oh, wow, this is really chewy I was not expecting that--”

Yuuri wants to ask what else would you expect from fried squid but he doesn’t say anything.  He just keeps watching as Yuuya nibbles off of the plate, taking a piece for himself every now and then.

“Are you friends with the other performers?” Yuuri moves to a different topic of conversation.

“I am, I know all of them on that street,” Yuuya easily answers.  “They’re all really great!  And have a lot of fun doing what they do!”

“You should tell me what they do and who they are.”

“Let’s see, there’s Kachidoki Isao, he used to train in various martial arts so he puts on displays every now and then--he works with either Tsukikage or Hikage a lot depends on the day and what time,” Yuuya pops another piece of calamari into his mouth.  “There’s also Yuzu!  You’d like Yuzu, she’s my childhood friend!  She comes out and sings a lot, and Yuuto sometimes accompanies her too--ah, I told you about Yuuto already but he plays guitar.  Those two make really awesome duets!”

“And that ventriloquist?”

“That’s Nico Smiley, he used to MC or a lot of sports events before he retired.  So now he does that to earn some extra money--he’s good at it, and his jokes are pretty pro!”

Yuuya hums, closing his eyes to think.

“Oh, there’s also Mieru Hochun--she’s a fortune teller and tells people’s fortunes.  She’s really spot on too!  I’ll let you meet everyone one day!”

Yuuri looks forward to that, if only because it means more one on one time with Yuuya.  Their food comes out before Yuuri can continue the conversation, the waiter placing the plates on the table, grating cheese on to their food, and asking for anything else.  Both say that they’re good, and start eating.

“Ah, this is good!” Yuuya looks immensely pleased and Yuuri’s chest bubbles with warmth. So his half-assed lies earlier paid off.

“I’m glad,” Yuuri tells him, “I wouldn’t know how to deal with the embarrassment if I had chosen a bad place.”

“Just laugh it off, really,” Yuuya gives him a cheeky wink, “mistakes happen!”

Like dropping his wallet, but really that had to have been the best mistake in his life if it led up to him meeting Yuuya.  Yuuri is glad this has been a success, because it leaves more room for more da--meetups.  He shouldn’t get ahead of himself here.  Speaking of, he could invite Yuuya out to see a movie or perhaps come over to Yuuri’s place and visit there.  It would be--

“Yuuya, I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Would you--”

“ _Ah, Yuuri~!  Fancy meeting you here!_ ” Dennis’ voice immediately pushes away all joy Yuuri had felt throughout the evening.  Of course, of course they would do that.  He should’ve been careful when sending Sora that text.  He should’ve thought things through properly even with his giddiness at the time.

“Friends?”  Yuuya asks as Dennis and Serena are practically frog marched to a table near them by Sora.

“...unfortunately,” Yuuri gripes.

Dennis sits as close as possible, leans back in his chair, and blows both of them a kiss.  Yuuri wants to strangle him.  Sora is pouting.  Serena looks like she just wants to leave.  

“You didn’t tell us you were on a da-- _ow_!” Dennis falls back forward, chair legs landing hard on the floor, and gives Serena a pained look.  “What was that for!?”

“Leaning back like that is rude,” she tells him, “especially in an establishment like this.”

“Fine, fine,” Dennis mopes a bit but quickly perks back up, talking to Serena and Sora animatedly.  Yuuri will have to thank Serena later as well.

“They seem like a fun group to be around,” Yuuya tells him.

“Most days,” they were good friends, he wouldn’t lie about that, but sometimes.  Sometimes...he looks to where Sora is staring at Yuuya, appraising him, trying to see if he is worth it.  Something absolutely ridiculous.  They should hurry up and eat, get out of here fast.

Before Yuuri actually uses his medical knowledge to kill someone.

\----

“Hematology,” Yuuri says when he walks into the hospital the next day.  Dr. Izayoi looks up from a chart she’s reading.

“Hematology,” she repeats.  “So you found someone?”

Yuuri nods and walks back to his shared office.

“You look refreshed,” his fellow resident says.  “Weekend that good?”

“Hematology,” is all Yuuri repeats.

“What?”

Yuuri sees his patients that day with a much brighter demeanor.  Even if their “date” had been a bit rushed near the end thanks to some unwanted people it had still gone _incredibly well_.  He even got Yuuya’s phone number from it.

Yuuri pulls out his phone and opens his contacts list, stares lovingly at Yuuya’s name and the ridiculous picture with it, and thinks about texting him.  A hand places itself on his shoulder and Dr. Izayoi leans in close.

“One year of residency before certification,” she reminds him.

Yuuri doesn’t know if he can hold out a year before he can finally have Yuuya.


	3. Birds in a bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuya gushes, Sora pouts, Yuuri is just incredibly pleased

“Get off my bed, Yuuto,” Yuuya whines when he enters his apartment. He didn’t perform today--it had been obnoxiously hot and the only thing he _did_ do was roam about town and explore. He should’ve expected this, Maiami’s about to enter summer and it’s already sweltering.

He groans and throws his sweaty shirt at Yuuto’s face. “Seriously.”

Yuuto makes some disgruntled noise, followed by a “Yuuya you’re disgusting.”

“And you’re a freeloader,” Yuuya turns on the rotating fan he has set up in a corner of his apartment, “don’t you have your own place?”

“Your place is comfier,” Yuuto yawns as he gets up. “Also my neighbors are shit.”

Yuuya’s heard infamous stories about the neighbors. He wonders what they’re doing this time. “Satanic rituals?”

“Might as well be,” Yuuto’s already grabbing his backpack from where it’s propped against the coffee table. “Using your shower.”

“Hey--”

At least let the gross and sweaty person use it first, geeze. Yuuya unties his plaid button up from around his waist, undoes his belt buckle, and shucks off his pants as fast as he can. The cool air on his skin is a temporary relief. The fabric of his boxers still clings to his skin.

“Way too hot,” he mumbles to himself. What happened to the cool air that night he went out to eat with Yuuri?  Yuuri with his really nice, really gorgeous--

Yuuya tries to distract himself by opening some windows. He’s on the fifth floor of his complex, so he should get a good breeze. One of the birds chirp at him. “I know, I know,” he says, “it’s really hot, you guys are gonna need more water too.”  And their cages need to be cleaned tomorrow.

In the mean time he’ll just go and get them some water, and then more to bathe in.

“Yuuya did you pay your water bill--”

“I did!” Yuuya calls out. “Did you break my shower, Yuuto--”

“Nevermind I got it--”

Yuuya doesn’t even want to know. Yuuto is a lot more responsible than this, but then again he _did_ just get up. He’s not the most coordinated of morning people.

“Here y’go Peppermint,” Yuuya mumbles as he puts in fresh water for the birds to drink from. He puts in another dish filled with water for them to bathe in. He does the same for the other cage.

The cages take up a majority of the living area, with barely enough space for him to have a futon, a coffee table, and an entertainment system plus TV. The kitchen is small, separated from the rest by a bar area. It’s a one bedroom, but the bedroom he uses more for guests and storage. He goes back to leaning against the window sill, listening to the wind and the cars passing by below.

One of the birds has already fluttered down to the water dish he put in for them to bathe in.

When he had first seen Yuuri, he had to admit, he thought he wouldn’t see the doctor (resident, he reminds himself) again. After all, it was just by chance he had seen Yuuri’s wallet slip out from a pocket on his bag. He thought nothing of it, returned it, and while magenta eyes had captivated him (with a face so similar to his own that it could be called narcissism? But Yuuto also has a face similar to him and Yuuya doesn’t feel the same way so--) it didn’t seem like they would ever run into each other again.

Until they met up in that restaurant and Yuuya suggested _melts_. The first conversation starter. “Kiiiind of embarrassing,” he says.

“Your choice in boxers?” Yuuto’s already moving around Yuuya’s apartment, gathering some of his stuff.

“Tomato print is in vogue, thank you very much,” Yuuya huffs. “You heading out?”

“Yeah, going to meet up with Yuzu,” Yuuto shoulders his guitar case. “And then maybe come back, I dunno.”

“You should at least go back to your place to pretend you still live there,” Yuuya says. “And sides, when you gonna ask Yuzu to move in with you?”  Yuuto quickly looks away from Yuuya, mumbles something intelligible, and quickly makes his escape. At the rate they’re going, Yuzu’s going to be the one to propose first. Probably make Yuuto faint from shock and embarrassment.

Yuuya almost laughs at the thought.

“Must be nice to have your crush fulfilled,” he moves his coffee table aside so he can fold out the futon, immediately flopping on it now that it was free from the Yuuto menace--for now. Yuuya relaxes, letting his body sink into the mattress.

He keeps thinking back to Yuuri.

Yuuri with the pleasant fuchsia eyes, the obnoxious but cute eyebrows, cute hair, cute everything and--a _gorgeous_ smile. He had been disappointed when he couldn’t see Yuuri smile during that performance. That performance, where he never expected Yuuri to be there let alone offer to help him, and Yuuya really should have said yes to Yuuri coming up to his apartment.

“It _is_ a mess though,” he parrots what he had said that day. The only answer he gets is a happy trill from a bird and water splashing.

He should shower.

He should also count how lucky he was that Yuuri offered to pay for him, take him out, and Yuuya wondered if it had been a date. If Yuuri is just as interested as Yuuya is?  Like he would know that.

Yuuya rolls over onto his back, grimacing as the fabric of the sheets stick to his skin. He wonders what it’d be like to have Yuuri here, cuddled next to him, both uncaring--

Yuuya scrubs at his eyes furiously.

He’s in too deep, he should cool off, yeah. His thoughts going this way had to be because of the heat. Definitely all the heat, because it’s just not common sense to ask a person you’ve known for a grand total of… two weeks?  Yuuya thinks it’s about two weeks--his days kind of blur together. Anyways, two weeks just isn’t enough time to know a person and then go “hey I kind of like you and your smile so wanna hook up or something?”

That’s too, too forward, Yuuya thinks. And a bit embarrassing, really embarrassing.

_“I hope I can make you smile more!”_

Yuuya remembers what he said to Yuuri first thing after seeing his (beautiful) smile and groans loudly. He throws his arm across his eyes and almost weeps. Of all the--

“That’s even more embarrassing!” he cries. “And I said ‘more’ like what--too many times I--wow, wow--”

He’s embarrassing.

Yuuya doesn’t even know if he would want to hang out with himself again after that. Even if it had been fun and enjoyable, he’s a wreck. A total wreck. Couldn’t even find proper clothes, considering most of his nice ones were, well--

“Maybe I can just go and like get something fancy for myself,” he mumbles. “Do I have enough for that?”  He should check his bank account. He should probably start looking for another job that’s not street performance--although he gets enough alone from that. But then again how expensive are clothes?  Like, really?

(Yuuya remembers that something once went for a hundred dollars and just quietly shoves the thought of clothes shopping to the back of his mind. If he needed fancy clothes he’ll just...borrow some of Yuuto’s clothes they wear the same size.)

Thoughts of clothing aside, however, Yuuya remembers that after their “not date just them hanging out at a really ritzy Italian restaurant so it seemed like a date but it totally wasn’t” thing from yesterday, he got Yuuri’s number. Yuuri’s number, which is now in his phone complete with a picture (and maybe has his name surrounded by hearts because Yuuya is a fucking loser), which means he can now contact Yuuri.

Set up another da--hang out.

Meeting.

Chill whatever.

Where’s his phone?

One of his birds chirps happily at him.

If he remembers correctly he left it probably in his pants’ pocket or--

His phone goes off with a cheery jingle, and Yuuya’s dive bombing for where he had just ditched his pants when he had been stripping earlier. He pulls his phone out with a triumphant yell. Only, he trips over his own feet and ends up crashing on the floor. He gives a pained hiss, lying on the floor with phone clutched loosely in his hand.

One of his birds splashes about.

“Maybe I need to invest in a rug instead of new clothes,” Yuuya mumbles to himself as he slowly gets up. “Hardwood floor really hurts, ow….”  He turns his phone on and notices one new notification.

One new message.

It’s from Yuuri.

Yuuya probably opens up the message faster than he should have.

 **To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_How’s your day been so far?_

Yuuya doesn’t even know how to answer this question. Same old, same old?  Absolutely wonderful?  It was too hot so I kind of went back home and just stripped because it’s also kind of too hot to perform?  That last bit is too forward.

 **To:**  Yuuri  
**From:**  Yuuya  
_i had a pretty good day i mean i went out and--_

Yuuya deletes that message quickly and replaces it with something less long winded.

_pretty good so far! how about yours?_

That’s better, and he hits send. Yuuya doesn’t think he’s been this head over heels for someone before.

His phone goes off again.

 **To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_Tiring, I had more patients today than expected. Did you perform today?_

 **To:**  Yuuri  
**From:**  Yuuya  
_too hot so i just went out and explored some i’ll probably perform later on in the evening tomorrow or in the morning when it’s a bit cooler_

Yuuya hopes he isn’t responding too fast. Maybe he should slow down a bit, pretend he’s doing something productive besides laying on his floor in tomato print boxers texting. Or not, as his phone goes off again with Yuuri’s next message.

 **To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_You should have come by and visited me at the hospital for lunch, it was rather boring over here considering that my usual lunch partner had meetings._

“I also thought that was kind of too forward since we had that not date last night,” Yuuya mumbles. He kicks his legs back and forth as he types out his reply.

 **To:**  Yuuri  
**From:**  Yuuya  
_i have no idea where pulmosomething care is tho like i’d just be standing there confused and lost `(๑ △ ๑)`*_

 **To:**   Yuuri  
**From:**  Yuuya  
_tho i guess i’d just have to text you for you to get me lol_

It’s all too easy to forget that he has Yuuri’s number now, especially considering he had been a nervous wreck when they were exchanging them. Not that...Yuuri noticed. Hopefully. Yuuya hopes Yuuri hadn’t noticed. He’d like to keep some semblance of being cool.

It takes a few more minutes for Yuuri to respond to Yuuya’s text. Yuuya drags himself back up on his futon in the meantime.

 **To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_Did you forget you had my number?  I’m quite appalled, Yuuya, am I that forgettable?_

Yuuya sends out a hasty “no,” complete with several exclamation marks and saying the word out loud himself.

  
**To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_I’m flattered you feel that strongly about me._

Yuuya is tempted to type out that he feels a lot more than just strong friendship, that maybe it’s truer than Yuuri thinks, but it’s only been like… what… two weeks?? A week at most?? Since he’s known Yuuri?  He doesn’t even know how Yuuri feels about him.

For all Yuuya knows, this could even just be a passing crush… which he kind of hopes it isn’t.

 **To:**  Yuuri  
**From:**  Yuuya

_so uhm do you wanna hang out again when we both have time?  maybe like next weekend or something?_

Yuuya’s hands are shaking as he types this out, and when he hits send he lets his phone drop on his chest. This is all kinds of dumb, really. He shouldn’t be getting so worked up over a simple request to hang out. They’re just… friends, it’s not like it’s going to be a date or whatever. Maybe, Yuuya doesn’t know, it’s all confusing.

Yuuri’s confusing.

Emotions are confusing.

Crushes are really confusing.

He jumps when his phone goes off on his chest, the vibrations tickling him. He fumbles with his phone, sweat slicked palms dropping it back on his chest and winding him for a bit.

Yuuya finally manages to get a good grip on his phone, opening his messages.

 **To:** Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri  
_Sure. How about your place?  Maybe order take out or something?_

Yuuya’s heart throbs in his chest.

\----

“You can’t just refuse to eat it because it’s from the Kurosaki Bakery,” Serena tells Sora. She’s sitting at the table of her dining room, a cute cake decorated with tiny teddy bears and various candies sitting in the middle of her, Dennis, and Sora.

Sora glares at the cake, though there’s a bit of drool seeping from the corner of his mouth, “I can too!”

“Are you still mad at the Kurosakis’ son for beating you in that one competition?” Dennis is looking over a script, a highlighter in hand and a pencil tucked behind his ear. “That was...how many years ago?”

“Three,” Serena answers in a deadpan.

“These kinds of grudges last a while,” Sora looks away from the cake with a pout. More for her, then, and she reaches over to grab the cake and drag it towards her. “Ah!” Sora shouts. “Serena, don’t eat that!”

“You’re not eating it,” she tells him. “So why shouldn’t I?”

“Because, that bird brain piece of shit made that--”

Serena tunes Sora out, already getting up to grab a knife so she can cut herself a slice. “Dennis, do you want any?” she asks.

“A small slice,” he answers, and then highlights something in his script. He flips a page.

“Okay,” Serena walks back towards the table with the knife and some plates and starts cutting into the cake.

Sora watches with a baleful look.

“It’s _my_ cake… from _Yuuri_ ,” he mumbles.

“You don’t want it,” Serena tells him. “Because it’s from the Kurosaki Bakery.”  Sora’s hand weakly reaches out, but one glare from Serena has him looking away again. Pride over love for sweets, she guesses.

“By the way,” Dennis speaks up, “hasn’t our dear Yuuri been acting strange lately?”

“Stranger than usual?” Serena slides his slice over.

“Something like that,” he puts his script down. “More like… hmmm…”

“Yuuri is still acting like Yuuri,” Sora pipes up. “He’s probably really tired from work.”

Dennis hums, “You think?”

Serena cuts her own slice. “We did interrupt something important a couple of days ago,”  both Dennis and Sora give her a confused look. She can’t believe this.

“A date,” she says flatly. “Why else would he be at that high class restaurant, with another guy, in a booth far away from people?”

More silence.

“You didn’t even notice how pissed he was.”

“Yuuri always sounds like to me,” Dennis grins. “But, if our Yuuri was on a date then that means he’s--”

“ _He’s found someone!_ ” Sora slams his hands on the table and gives them all a distressed look. “Yuuri’s found someone and he looks absolutely _horrible!_ ”

If you asked Serena, Yuuri’s date actually looked pretty decent. Had some muscle on him at least.

“And that’s _a_ _dorable!_ ” Dennis’ smile couldn’t get any bigger. “Do you think they’ve confessed, or is it perhaps something that has yet to happen?”

“ _Ahhh, Dennis, shut up, I don’t wanna hear iiiit--_ ”

“We should be supportive in this time of celebration for Yuuri!  Ah, I know, we should help him by--”

Serena tunes them out.

Why do they always congregate at her house, anyways?

\----

“Dr. Izayoi, here’s the patient chart you wanted me to grab,” Yuuri hands her the folders.

“Thanks,” she takes them easily, flipping through them before placing them on her desk. “By the way, I’ve noticed you’ve had your phone in your scrubs’ pocket more.” She grins and points at his phone, which rests innocently in the pocket on the chest of his scrubs.

“Ah, well,” he coughs, “you’ve caught me a bit red handed, Dr. Izayoi.”

“Just as long as it’s not interfering with your work,” she tells him. “What are your plans this coming up weekend?”

“I’ll be spending some time with someone,” Yuuri answers. “You?”

“I’ll be visiting family back in Neo Domino,” she tells him. “So I won’t be in tomorrow.” That’s right, it’s Thursday now. Yuuri really hasn’t been keeping up with the days even though he's been religiously counting them since his "not date" with Yuuya. It's been about almost two weeks. Almost.

And this weekend he gets to see Yuuya again.

Oh, speaking of which he should try and pick up his place some, it is a bit of a mess. Too bad he couldn’t have gotten to see Yuuya’s place, although Yuuri did try.

( _Please?_

_No it’s a bit messy--_

_I’m sure it’s not that bad._

_No it’s pretty bad another time how about we meet up at your place?_ )

“I’ll make sure nothing burns down,” Yuuri tells Dr. Izayoi. She smiles at him and goes right back to work.

Yuuri’s phone goes off.

It’s Dennis.

 


	4. Dennis gets locked in a closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis gets locked in a closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dennis gets locked into a closet

Saturday rolls around fast, and it feels like there really hasn’t been a Friday at all. Then again Yuuri spent most of his Friday rushing around work, taking on more patients than usual because of Dr. Izayoi’s absence. He had planned to clean when he got home after but...that didn’t exactly pan out too well.

He had crashed the minute he got home, so now he’s going through last minute cleaning.

Along with Dennis because the asshole apparently didn’t have anything better to do on a Saturday when Yuuri’s pretty sure he has practice. “I don’t even know why you need to clean up anything it’s already pretty spotless,” Dennis winces as the perfectly clean glass coffee table squeaks underneath the paper towel he’s using. The bottle of glass cleaner sits, tauntingly, next to him.

“I haven’t had a chance to pick up in weeks,” Yuuri tells him. “I don’t want him to think me a pig. Now if you’re just going to complain get out--I don’t even remember inviting you.”

“Well, anything to help our dear Yuuri with his endeavors in love!” Dennis gets up to start wiping down the windows. The… perfectly immaculate windows.

“I don’t need your help on anything in that category,” Yuuri tells him and the counters of his kitchen get an intense scrub down. “That last bit of romantic advice that you told _Serena_ , who takes _everything literally,_ had been…”

Yuuri pauses, brows furrowing.

“Ah, yes, ‘hit them with the hammer of love, don’t let up’ and when she asked ‘but I don’t have a hammer’ you responded ‘it’s just a metaphor, lovely Serena, anything will do!’”

“And she proceeded to punch her crush, yes, I know, but I thought the metaphor bit might have clued her in on not to actually do it?” Dennis shrugs. The look Yuuri gives him makes him go right back to cleaning the still way too clean windows. “I can still give some good advice on how to get his attention on you--or at least get what you want across to him,” Dennis says.

“I can do fine on my own.”

“He didn’t respond to you feeling him up all through that last dinner.”

Dennis hears something crack--loudly. He turns around to see Yuuri throwing something away into the trash can and, wisely, decides to not comment on that. “This and that have nothing to do with each other,” Yuuri’s a big fat liar. “And how do you even know that?”

“Serena.”

Yuuri really should have known. In fact, Dennis, for all he spouts about being an expert at love advice, never knows love unless it came up to smack him in the face with giant fan. Or really any assortment of objects Yuuri could think of. The more pain they caused, the better. And Serena, even though she herself struggles with how to deal with anything even remotely romantic, is observant. It’s no surprise she probably saw.

“But you could’ve said you had a date and I could’ve helped then, too!”

“No thank you,”  Yuuri’s closing up his medical textbooks and carrying them back to his room.

“I know some really--”

“Everything will be okay,” Yuuri tries to find where on his bookshelf they’re supposed to go. He needs to straighten that up, too, but there’s not enough time. Not when he has about an hour and a half before Yuuya comes, his apartment is still a mess, and he has yet to shower. Then there’s also Dennis, who needs to leave soon.

“I know some good sonnets--”

“Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare can only get you so far.”

“What about a love song--”

“Dennis,” Yuuri glares at him from the doorway of his bedroom , “if you’re not going to help clean please leave.”

Dennis reluctantly goes back to cleaning the (still ridiculously clean) windows.

All that’s left now is--

The doorbell rings.

Yuuri freezes, eyes wide, and quickly turns to look at Dennis. Dennis is still petulantly cleaning windows. “Dennis, go shove yourself in a closet,” Yuuri says.

“Wait,” Dennis gapes at him, “what?”

“Go shove yourself into a closet.”

“Why--”

“Do it or I’ll do it for you,” Yuuri is already stalking towards him. “Closet. Now.”

Dennis is pressed against the window, and he could escape either way but Yuuri’s moving a bit too fast. “Any reason why--”

“He’s here, and you’re not supposed to be here, and with your insistence on giving me love advice the best you can do is not ruin anything for me now. Closet.”

Dennis swallows, “Y-yes sir.”

And he finds the nearest closet.

“You’ll live,” is all Yuuri says before he shuts the door on his friend. He ignores the exasperated sigh that follows. Right now he just needs to at least look a little bit presentable.

Or just suck it up and greet Yuuya like this.

It’s a mental war, the vain part of Yuuri’s mind clashing violently with the desire to see Yuuya right away. Of course, wanting to see Yuuya wins out right away and he quickly rushes to open the door. Yuuya is standing there, finger poised to press the doorbell again, and looking a bit startled from the door opening so suddenly.

“S-sorry I’m so early,” Yuuya squeaks out. “Just, I didn’t want to be late because I got lost so I left earlier than planned and, uhm--”

“Yes?”

“I...didn’t expect you to live in uptown,” Yuuya says. “I would’ve dressed a bit...better?”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Yuuri steps aside to let Yuuya in. “It’s me who should apologize I wasn’t expecting you just yet so I’m...not ready at all.”  He still hasn’t showered and _Dennis is in his closet._

 “Oh, shi--uhh, I mean, sorry!” Yuuya couldn’t have been legal, he really couldn’t have been allowed because even the way he bites back that curse is adorable. Is this a case of just...being in too deep?  “I can wait while you get ready or something, I don’t mind,” Yuuya tells him. “Especially since I kind of came over too early.”

“That would be rude of me, as your host,” Yuuri is already guiding Yuuya to the kitchen area and seating him at the island. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Oh, no, I really don’t mind,” Yuuya’s smile stays gentle.

“...at least let me make you something to drink,” Yuuri says. He can’t really win against Yuuya--especially when Yuuya looks at him with such kind eyes.

“I’ll take some coffee, then.”

“Alright.”

Throughout the time Yuuri’s making coffee his phone goes off once with a text from Dennis asking if he could leave the closet yet. Yuuri responds with a prompt “no.”  Dennis probably sends back a frowning emoji or something, Yuuri doesn’t pay attention. He just places his phone face down on the counter, serves Yuuya his coffee, and tells him that he’ll be back in about ten to fifteen minutes.

Yuuri has to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from asking Yuuya if he wants to join him in the shower.

They haven’t known each other for very long, despite what Yuuri likes to think, and while Yuuri wouldn’t mind Yuuya’s _comfort_ is first priority. He has to be willing, he has to _like_ being around Yuuri as much as Yuuri likes being around him. Fundamentally important things, he thinks.

He turns the shower on, water hot, and starts stripping.

The thing now, really, is figuring out how to get Yuuya that comfortable around Yuuri. Their last “not date” focused more on talking about what they did, their jobs, their reasoning for it--so maybe this go around they could talk about other things--likes, dislikes, all that stuff. Maybe while watching a movie or some series on netflix.

All while Dennis is still in his closet.

Yuuri’s going to have to do something about that.

Either way, he thinks as he steps into the shower, this is an opportunity to learn more about Yuuya. Maybe figure out things that will help him get a better idea of what to do during future dates--hangouts. Meetups, he has to remind himself, because they’re just friends and that’s it. That’s absolutely it.

Yuuri really wants to be something more.

He fights with his hair when he gets out, brush snagging, and it takes him a while to get it all brushed out. Of course he’s also juggling the tasks of brushing his teeth, putting on deodorant, and getting dressed all at the same time. He had taken a fast shower--a record for him--because Yuuya is sitting at the island of his kitchen nursing a cup of coffee. Probably thinking Yuuri’s a pretty lame host for not being ready. Even if, well, Yuuya admitted to being far too early himself.

Semantics, tiny details, all that.

“Sorry I took so long,” Yuuri says when he leaves his bedroom, hair perfectly in place and outfit on point.

Yuuya looks up from his phone, “No, it’s okay!”

“Were you bored?”

“Nah, I was texting Kachidoki and asking him about some stuff,” Yuuya says. “Oh, by the way, uhm, I was hearing some weird noises?”

Weird noises?

“Like I think a door creaking open and shuffling?” Yuuya laughs nervously. “I mean I could’ve been hearing things so--”

Yuuri glances over to the closet he had shoved Dennis in earlier. It’s slightly ajar, and he sees the tips of Dennis’ fingertips. Of course that asshole would try it.

“I-it was probably the downstairs neighbors or something,” Yuuri says, striding to the closet and shutting it firmly with his foot. There’s a muffled yelp, and Yuuri bangs on the door one more time with his foot as a warning.

“Uhm--”

“I need to get this door checked out sometimes it doesn’t stay closed and a _firm kick_ usually does the trick,” he bangs the door again, “maybe two.”

“I see,” and Yuuya goes back to his phone when it goes off again. “So, what did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking maybe we could watch something on netflix?” Yuuri asks. He can hear the muffled sob of pain from Dennis. “Perhaps get takeout or something later?”

“Oh, that would be nice!”

“Here let’s set up on the couch.”

“Yeah--also uhm, maybe no five star restaurants like...I’m not exactly dressed to impressed?” and Yuuya’s right, considering there’s holes in the knees of his jeans and he’s wearing his usual plaid and white v-neck. Complete with thick soled boots that laced up.

“....I’m sure the Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks down won’t mind.”

“Sweet!”

Yuuya easily settles down on Yuuri’s leather couch, though he still sits a bit straight. A shame, really, that he’s still nervous because the couch is absolutely the best when you relax in it. “So what do you want to watch?” Yuuri asks, sitting down next to Yuuya _as close as he possibly could._ Yuuya doesn’t seem to notice--it’s going to be a repeat of the restaurant isn’t it?

“Uhm, well,” Yuuya tries to think. “Sometimes I like to watch Law and Order when I can catch it?”

“Which one?” Yuuri asks as he turns on his TV. “There’s the original, Criminal Investigations, SVU--”

“SVU I guess?”

Yuuri’s phone goes off a couple more times but he steadfastly ignores it. Whatever Dennis has to say can wait until they’re done. Or, you know, until they leave to go grab takeout. Then he can open the closet door, tell Dennis where the key is to lock the door, and never come back unannounced again unless he wants to be shoved into the closet.

Again.

“SVU it is,” Yuuri gets Netflix started up.

A quick search later and they have episode one of season one playing (“I’ve never seen it all and I kind of want to,” Yuuya admitted) and halfway through Yuuya’s inching his way towards Yuuri. Which is definitely a score in his book--Yuuya had admitted to liking them but who knew he got squeamish.

Yuuri’s phone goes off again.

He thinks about muting it. Then decides that, nah, he’ll give Dennis _some_ mercy. The first two texts, the ones he had ignored earlier, are nothing but Dennis complaining. Things like “You could’ve just introduced me and called me a friend” and “this closet is uncomfortable and you’re watching LAW AND ORDER.”  The recent text is:

_You’re watching SVU and I’m hearing the most obnoxious noises and I bet you I could get out RIGHT NOW because you two are snogging on that sofa._

Yuuri snorts, thankfully when a loud shout came from the TV, and Yuuya jumps a bit.

_I wish_

Yuuri texts back.

Another noise from Yuuya, this adorable hiccuping squeak, and Yuuri’s eyes widen just a bit. Yuuya has both of his arms wrapped tight around Yuuri’s own, red eyes staring in abject horror at the screen as they explained some procedure. Or, rather, how the case went down. But Yuuri really doesn’t care about that right now. What he cares about is that Yuuya is currently latched on to his arm, squishing it against his chest--

_Nevermind I might just be soon_

Yuuri sends that to Dennis, tosses his phone on the couch, and tries his best to not just jump Yuuya then and there.

Which is hard.

_Guy had a nice chest if Yuuri wanted to be honest._

“Oh, god,” Yuuya mumbles, “oh god, oh god, what a creep--”

“They’ll apprehend him in the end, Yuuya,” Yuuri tries to lean back some but Yuuya keeps him firmly in place.

“Yeah, I know but--”

Yuuya shudders.

Yuuri’s phone goes off again. Dennis can entertain himself for a while longer. “Do you want to switch to something else?” Yuuri is already reaching for the remote. Yuuya stops him.

“No, no, I do enjoy it!” he sounds incredibly earnest. “I just...get really uncomfortable really easy and stuff.”

Yuuri laughs a bit, “So you still watch it?”

“Yeah,” a blush spreads across Yuuya’s face. Yuuri just wants to lean in and kiss it right off of him. Maybe he should--

His phone goes off again. Yuuri is going to strangle Dennis later.

Netflix autoplays episode two, and at this point the two have settled back down on Yuuri’s couch. Yuuya has, at some point during episode one, curled himself up on Yuuri’s couch. His boots had been kicked off (the laces must have been tied loose), arms are still around Yuuri’s arm, and he’s just...leaning on him. That’s it.

Yuuri wonders if Yuuya’s doing this on purpose.

Maybe he had noticed Yuuri’s foot during their restaurant outing so he’s, like, possibly doing his own method of flirting or something?  If so, Yuuri certainly can’t complain. There’s more yelling, Yuuya flinches.

Yuuri hears a door creak open.

His gaze darts to the closet where Dennis resided, eyes narrowing, and it hastily shuts again. Good, Dennis could sense his anger. Or at least knew he’s in some pretty deep--

“ _Oh my god!_ ” and Yuuya is practically pressing himself into Yuuri’s side and they both go tumbling over onto the couch.

What happened to spook him out this much?

“ _That person is a creep and a liar, Benson, Benson arrest him right now!_ ” Yuuya is practically shouting this at the screen. Not like Yuuri really cares because he’s:

  1. Lying awkwardly on his side, on his couch, trying to move on to his back but can’t because--

  2. Yuuya is keeping him sort of pinned there, hands resting on the couch and keeping him trapped and that’s all kinds of yes and--

  3. His phone is digging awkwardly into his cheek and it’s going off and the vibrations feel really weird against his skin.




“Yuuya,” Yuuri speaks up, though his voice is kind of muffled. Yuuya is still bristling at the TV and whoever the criminal of the day is. Yuuri’s phone keeps going off which means Dennis is in the middle of some kind of rant towards the injustice of shoving a pretty face like his into the closet.

Yuuri doesn’t really care about that.

What he cares about is trying to keep his cool while pinned under Yuuya. “Yuuya,” he tries one more time. “...Yuuya, darling?”

That seems to nab Yuuya’s attention. Most likely from how out of the blue it is, all things considered. Red eyes snap down to stare into Yuuri’s own magenta, and that flush from earlier comes back full force. Yuuya’s shoulders rise with it, a stammer slipping out of his mouth as he scuttles back, “O-oh man, I’m so sorry I--”

He’s probably about to say something along the lines of how this is really only their second time hanging out or whatever. How rude of him, oh gosh, don’t think him some creep, all that fun stuff.

“It’s fine,” Yuuri tells him and sits back up. “I didn’t really mind at all.”

“Still--”

Yuuri’s phone goes off _one more god damn time he’s about to tell Dennis to shut the fuck up--_

 **To:**  Yuuri  
**From:**  Dr. Izayoi  
_Sorry to make your day off short but we’re short staffed and they’ve called some extra people in--you’re one of them._

Yuuri curses every higher being.

“Sorry, dar--Yuuya,” Yuuri catches himself. “Looks like work needs me.”

“Oh,” Yuuya looks a bit dejected. “That’s okay. Taking care of people is important. I’ll just go ahead and leave--”

“No, let’s leave together, let me just get ready,” and by ready, he means back in his scrubs, hunt down his badge, grab his bag and shove in two water bottles plus some energy bars because when will he be able to eat if they’re short staffed?

“Okay, I’ll wait by the door then,” Yuuya’s already putting on his boots.

Yuuri wonders who got sick for them to even be short staffed?  As petty as it sounds (which it’s not he’s totally justified in this a date got cut _short_ ), he’s probably going to hunt down and make whoever called in sick have the worst day possible. Maybe, it’s all up in the air.

Scrubs on, badge located, and bag filled with the proper necessities, Yuuri’s on his way to the door.

He stops by the closet, however.

“You know where the spare key is,” he says, “so let yourself out--make yourself scarce around me the next couple of days.”

The muffled “yes sir” makes him grin.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Yuuya!”

“Nah, no big deal.”

The two leave Yuuri’s place together.

Back inside, in the closet, Dennis slumps against the wall with his heart still pounding. God, Yuuri could be an absolute demon sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, Dennis got locked in the closet


	5. Soup spoon sweet nothings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadly the delusions of your dreams must stay that for now--delusions. Sorry you couldn't get to kiss the cute performer, Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter a lot too, tbh

They’re in the break room.

Dr. Izayoi is currently nursing her fifth cup of coffee, still on the phone with their dean about something, and Yuuri feels like his eyeballs are going to spill out of his sockets. _Spill_ , because with how they’re burning they might as well be melting. “No, no, see, the patient in question--sir, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to repeat that, I was with my residents since yesterday at four in the afternoon and it’s one now,” a sigh and Dr. Izayoi looks ready to murder someone.

Yuuri doesn’t blame her.

They’ve been here since yesterday, had to pull an all-nighter in the hospital, and then promptly got shoved to Ambulatory Care Clinic because they were short staffed there, too, and--

Apparently it’s a holiday week or something. Yuuri doesn’t know. Dr. Izayoi shoves the rest of her coffee to him, her annoyance at their dean visible on her face, and he downs what’s left of it. It’s very burnt. Someone forgot to turn the pot off.

He looks at his fellow resident, who’s supposed to be on coffee duty. All he ends up seeing is the resident slumped over the arm of the couch, snoring. The coffee machine is still on. Wonderful.

“Johan,” Yuuri says, “don’t fall asleep our shift’s not done.”

He wants to sleep, too, but he can’t. Not until he’s given the go ahead to leave.

Johan doesn’t even respond, instead opting to roll over onto the floor. How he doesn’t wake up is an absolute (not really) mystery. A snore just answers Yuuri for his efforts. “Johan, can you--” Yuuri’s cut off by a hand wave from Dr. Izayoi. She’s putting her phone down, and her shoulders slump.

“Let him sleep,” she says. “He needs it, all things considered.”

“We all do,” Yuuri gets up and turns the coffee pot off. “So, what’s going on?”

“So, apparently, one of the doctor’s had to leave because of a family emergency,” which is why she’s here, “and as for the others--”

Johan snores again.

“--it turns out some were sick.”

“Sick?” Yuuri finds that hard to believe considering they were called in on a Saturday and are still sitting here on a Sunday.  When he gets home all he’ll be doing is sleeping, then getting up again to start a morning shift on Monday.  Such is the life of a resident soon to be doctor.  Well, he is a doctor he didn’t go to med school for nothing.

“Sick,” Dr. Izayoi repeats.  “I mean, it is the beginning of flu season.”

“We get updated flu shots--you got employee health.”

A shrug.

Yuuri wants to sort of just, bash his head in on the table in front of him.  Or join Johan on the floor and sleep.

“Anyways, let Johan sleep for another fifteen minutes and then back to work,” Dr. Izayoi sighs as he pager goes off.  “After that back to work, lunch break over.”

“Yes, ma’am,” not like any of them did a lot of eating.  More like drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Johan continues to snore on.

It isn’t until around six that Yuuri is finally allowed to stumble outside.  The sun is setting, it’s rush hour traffic, and he’s not sure he’s coordinated enough to make the required amount of steps to the bus stop.  

“Oh, Yuuri!”

He blinks, looking up blearily.

A splotch of color--obnoxious colors but...hmmm--

Wait.

“Yuuya?” Yuuri tries to stand up a bit straighter.  It’s Yuuya, alright, in some ridiculous get up that Yuuri hasn’t seen him in yet.  Most of his performance clothes had been sleek, fanciful, not, “is there a reason you’re in a clown get up?”

“Yeah, today was like...a sort of honorary kid’s day on the street, you know, where I usually set up,” he grins.  “So I decided to be a bit more ridiculous today--minus make up though, that can scare some of them.”

“Is this an event you’ve been planning for a while?”

“All of us are pretty close knit so we got together and talked about it over dinner one day,” a laugh, “we’re the only ones who really perform over there.  Consistently too.”

Yuuri is about to say something else but he finds his legs wobbling, and his knees give out on him.  Yuuya makes a surprised shout, Yuuri gets a face full of yellow and red fabric, and strong arms wrapping around him.

He can’t even bring himself to be surprised, “Sorry--”

“Have you even gotten any sleep recently--”

“Long shifts--”

“Here,” Yuuya straightens Yuuri up, hands still gripping Yuuri’s upper arms.  Yuuya’s palms are incredibly warm, and so was his chest.  Yuuri...kind of didn’t want to move and would have been perfectly content falling asleep on Yuuya’s chest.  “How are you getting home?”

“Public transport.”

“You’d fall asleep on the bus,” Yuuya’s frowning.  “Let me drive you back to your place.”

“No, you don’t have to,” Yuuri can’t even protest, Yuuya already dragging him along.

“It’s fine, I know where you live, it’s not that out of the way for me,” Yuuri can’t help but feel like Yuuya is lying just to make Yuuri feel better.  

“You really--”

“Nope!”

And Yuuri finds himself dragged all the way to Yuuya’s van, feet stumbling, Yuuya sounding too happy.  “Isao!” Yuuya calls out.  One of the performers (Yuuri remembers him as one of the people doing the martial arts presentation when he first stopped by--he has long purple hair pulled up right now) looks up from where he’s putting up the last of his equipment.

“Do you need someone to escort you?” gruff voice, to the point.

Yuuya nods, “Yeah, and help me get this guy in just in case?”

“Are you kidnapping someone?”

“No!” Yuuya's voice rises in pitch.  Yuuri feels like he should pipe in with a “he is, actually” but his eyes are trying to close and it’s a losing battle.  Very much a losing battle.

“Oi, Yuuya, he looks ready to keel over--”

“Oh, dang, Yuuri, come on!”

Yuuri’s worked from four in the afternoon Saturday to six in the evening Sunday, he feels very justified in passing out right now.  He still tries to stay up for Yuuya, though.

“Come on, Isao, help me?”

“Sure thing.  Tsukikage, I leave the rest of this to you--”

Yuuri finds himself being supported by two arms, and his feet are moving again.  People are talking.  Talking a lot, and really all Yuuri can think about is his bed and not getting up until he absolutely has to.

“I still have to set my alarm,” he ends up mumbling before his eyes finally slide shut.

\----------

When Yuuri wakes up again, eyes slowly opening, it’s to the warmth of his bed, the sound of the city nightlife below, and _another body next to his_.  He’s more alert, pushing himself up to see who it is and _he swears to god if Dennis broke in again--_

Oh.

That is definitely not Dennis in his bed next to him.  That is very much a Yuuya, asleep and content and shirtless.  Yuuri wonders which god he pleased recently to deserve this good fortune.  Maybe shoving Dennis into his closet made one of them inexplicably happy.

Yuuri debates the merits of waking Yuuya up and telling him that he’s in Yuuri’s bed.  There’s the pros of not telling him, continue to just sit there and admire every single curve and line on Yuuya’s body.  There’s also the cons of waking Yuuya up, of asking Yuuya why he’s in Yuuri’s bed but if all goes well that may lead to--

“Mmm, you up Yuuri?” Yuuya’s voice is groggy and sleep slurred.

Yuuri jolts, “A-ah, yes, yes I am.  Did I bother you?”

“Nooo,” and Yuuya rolls over, arm coming around Yuuri’s waist and pushing him back down on the bed.  Yuuri’s heart tries to jump out of his chest.  “Not at all,” Yuuya presses his body close to Yuuri’s, slides one leg over Yuuri’s.  “You should go back to sleep, though.”

“I have some things I need to do, first,” like shower, start a load of laundry, maybe eat something.

“That can wait,” Yuuya sounds absolutely reluctant about that thought.  Yuuri’s just wondering when they skipped some steps in their friendship to jump...into this.  Not that he’s complaining, really.

“Not really,” because Yuuri remembers that hell shift he pulled.  He’s absolutely gross.

“What if I convinced you to stay?”

Convinced?

Yuuri takes the bait, “And how would you do that, Yuuya?”  The smile Yuuya gives him is predatory.  As if, somehow, Yuuri’s willingly made himself prey to whatever Yuuya has in mind.  

(Not that Yuuri cares)

“Well,” and Yuuya moves so that he’s over Yuuri, straddling him and red eyes bright, “what if I wanted to make it a surprise?”  Yuuri wants to point out that there’s really no surprise about this, not when Yuuya’s intentions are so obvious.  

He humors Yuuya, “Oh, then please, do surprise me.”

Yuuya doesn’t even respond to that.  He just continues to smile, leaning in to press a kiss to Yuuri’s lips.  

To risk sounding cliche, to sound like Dennis when rehearsing, Yuuya’s lips are everything Yuuri’s imagined them to be.  Soft, chapped, moving against Yuuri’s in such a way that just makes him sigh and melt.  A warmth that spreads from Yuuya to Yuuri and makes his body shiver in barely contained delight.

Yuuri brings his arms up to wrap around Yuuya’s neck, pull him in closer.  He shifts one leg up to slide between Yuuya’s.  He’s absolutely delighted when Yuuya _purposefully_ rolls his hips against Yuuri’s leg.

They part, Yuuya’s eyes now hooded, smile more languid and lazy.

“That work?” he asks.

“Hmmm,” Yuuri thinks, “I’m not sure--maybe I might need just a bit more incentive.”

Yuuya chuckles, comes back in for what seems to be another kiss but instead presses his lips to Yuuri’s jaw.  Yuuri sucks in a breath, tightens his arms around Yuuya’s neck to keep him pressed close.  It’s a wonderful turn of events, something that’s welcome after pulling off such a long shift.  It even makes the prospect of having to work a morning shift slightly better.

Yuuri gasps when Yuuya starts sucking at the patch of skin underneath his ear, a gentle bite followed by a kiss before Yuuya brings his mouth up to nibble at the lobe of Yuuri’s ear.  Yuuri shifts just a bit, pushes his leg up against Yuuya and whispers encouragements.  

Yuuya listens to every single one, presses open mouth kisses along Yuuri’s neck--sucks, bites, kisses, all these actions that just make heat bubble up inside of him.  “Yuuya,” he purrs, a hand coming up to run through Yuuya’s hair.  Yuuya just responds to his name by biting down _hard_.

Yuuri sighs, moans in encouragement.

It makes Yuuya stop.

Yuuri frowns, “Yuuya--Yuuya, darling, what is it?”  Had that been the wrong reaction?  Should Yuuri have responded differently?

“Yuuri?” Yuuya’s voice is muffled against his skin.  “Yuuri...uhm…”

“Yes?”

“Wake up?”

“But I am--”

His eyes snap open, he’s greeted by his ceiling, the sounds of the city nightlife outside his window, and his arms wrapped around a very frazzled Yuuya.  Yuuri blinks.  He has to take a minute to absorb everything that’s happened.  He’s in bed, somehow, and it’s night (one glance at the clock says early morning).  He’s currently holding Yuuya.

Yuuya who is bent over awkwardly, face smushed against Yuuri’s collar, and still (disappointingly) dressed.

“Ah,” Yuuri _sloooowly_ let’s Yuuya go.  “Good...morning Yuuya.”

“G-good morning, I guess,” Yuuya says as he lifts himself up.  Yuuri can’t really tell in the glow of the city lights from down below, but Yuuya might...possibly be blushing.

“Is there a reason you’re here?”  Yuuri tries to play off everything as being cool.  Totally okay and that he hadn’t been dreaming about Yuuya marking his neck in a ridiculous amount of hickeys.  

Yuuya coughs, “W-well, uhm, you fell asleep when me and Isao were taking you back to my van...so uhm, I took you back here and it was an interesting time trying to get the elevator to work…”

Right, Yuuri usually uses a card.  Swipes it to get access to his penthouse.  Yuuya had no means to do that.

“How did you get it to work?”

“I...uhm...looked through your stuff, sorry,” he looks ashamed.

“It’s okay, I was rather out of it and wouldn’t have been much help,” he probably slept like the dead.  “And how did you get me up here?  Did that...Isao person help you?”

“Oh, no, Isao went home after he helped you in to the van, I carried you up myself.”

Yuuri wants to ask _how_ until he remembers that glimpse of Yuuya’s biceps he got their first da--hang out.  He just tries to imagine Yuuya carrying him all the way up to his room.

“And why did you stay?”

“...thought I could tell you that I carried you up here--also just make you something, I guess, when you wake up.”

“You waited,” Yuuri looks at the clock.  It reads 3:30 in bright green numbers.  “You waited about nine hours in my apartment because you wanted to make sure I ate when I woke up?”

Yuuya looks sheepish, “Uhm...yeah?”

That is absolutely adorable.  There had to be another reason, though.

“Yuuya,” Yuuri sits up.  He notices that Yuuya’s changed out of that ridiculous clown get up from earlier, wearing a loose black t-shirt and plaid pants.  “Yuuya, did you fall asleep here?”

“M-maybe?”

That explains everything.  Yuuya had probably also brought up a change of clothes so he could change out of his performance outfit, too.  “Was that a bit too much I mean, I was worried, you kind of just passed out on me so,” Yuuri stops him with a hand on his arm, complete with a soft smile.  Yuuya tenses under his touch.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he chuckles. “I appreciate your concern, Yuuya.”

“...don’t mention it!” Yuuya’s expression shifts to a more natural smile.  “Oh, right, I went shopping for you earlier because you didn’t have a lot of stuff, so I made this one dish--”

“You didn’t use your own money, did you?”

“Well, yeah,” Yuuya gives him a confused look.  “Why wouldn’t I?”  Yuuri tries to imagine Yuuya grocery shopping in such a high end part of town.  Yuuya in his plain black t-shirt and his plaid (Yuuri is _pretty sure_ ) pajama pants.  A bit of him dies on the inside.

“How much do I owe you?” is the first thing he asks, getting out of bed so he can locate his wallet.

“Absolutely nothing?” Yuuya follows him.  “I went to this grocer’s near where I live--”

Which means Yuuya wasted gas for Yuuri.

“--and got things there.  The place is owned by some family friend so I can get discounts.”

“Let me give you gas money at least,” Yuuri’s already digging through his bag.  He’s stopped by Yuuya’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m telling you, it’s fine!” Yuuya starts pushing him out of his room and to the kitchen.  “You’re my friend!”  Even though they’ve only had about two “dates” and met each other a grand total of about six times, Yuuri thinks.

“I can easily cover for what you spent--”

“Just sit!” and Yuuya’s pushing Yuuri into one of the chairs at the island.  “Geeze, you’re worse than Shun sometimes when it comes to people taking care of you.”  Yuuri only recognizes that name because Sora’s used it more than enough times.  Yuuya’s friends with one of the people at the Kurosaki Bakery.

He’s not surprised.

“Anyways, I made this one dish for you from this recipe one of my friends posted online--he runs a cooking blog.  I asked him and he said this would help since you were so tired.”

Yuuri just nods.  He’s really not sure how to act in this situation, considering that usually his friends...didn’t know how to cook worth a damn.  Save himself and Sora, but Sora’s in culinary school so that is at least a given.

“So, eat up and get more rest, okay?” Yuuya sounds a little bit worried as he pulls out containers of food from Yuuri’s fridge.  One glance at the sink shows cookware washed and placed upside down--drying.  Yuuri doesn't really understand why, considering he has a working dishwasher.  

“I’m supposed to be the doctor here,” it’s a joke, but he quickly follows it up with a, “thank you, though.”

“I do what I can,” Yuuya’s already made him a plate and has popped it into the microwave.  A few minutes later and he’s pulling it out to place in front of Yuuri.  A soup, with rice and chicken and slices of ginger.  “It’s really bland, but I didn’t know how ready you’d be for heavier foods?” Yuuya shrugs.  “But it works--a good thing to eat when sick too, I was told.  There’s a salad you can make with it but they were sold out of the things I needed for it.”

Yuuri just nods again.  

The soup smelled...really good, and his body is now just realizing he’s awake and not ready to keel over.  Maybe he can even swallow properly, now.  Trying to force down protein bars when tired and forgetting how to swallow had not been a pleasant experience.

“Go on,” Yuuya is already moving around Yuuri’s kitchen, picking up small things.

He doesn’t need to be told twice, and while the soup _is_ bland, it’s still good.  

“Oh,” Yuuri puts his spoon down, “what about your birds?”

“I went ahead and brought them back to my apartment before I went shopping.  Yuuto has the key to my place so I asked him to take care of them.”

That’s one less worry.  Yuuri should have known Yuuya would have done something about that before he stayed as long as he did.  Yuuri takes note of his building’s card sitting on the counter.  “You’re heading home after this, correct?” Yuuri asks.  Or, more specifically, when he’s done eating.  Which is...not exactly something he wants.

“Yeah,” Yuuya tells him.  “No use staying longer than--”

“You should sleep here, for the rest of the morning,” Yuuri interrupts.  “It’s...what?  Four in the morning?  A couple of hours wouldn’t hurt anyone.”  Least of all him.  Yuuya looks a bit reluctant.

“Are you sure?” He probably feels like he over extended his welcome.

“I am.”

If Yuuya’s about to say anything else in protest, he doesn’t, as a loud yawn stops him.  “Maybe it’s your turn to sleep,” Yuuri’s already getting up.  “Bed rest.  As prescribed by a doctor.”

“But--”

Yuuri guides Yuuya to the guest bedroom, pushing him on to the bed, “I insist.  I’ll be fine, thank you for taking care of me.”

“Uhm...thank you for letting me stay longer, too,” Yuuya says as he gets under the covers.

“It’s no problem, the least I can do,” his smile becomes a bit softer.  “Goodnight, Yuuya.”

“Night.”

Yuuri closes the door to the guest bedroom and goes to finish the soup Yuuya made for him.  After that, he’ll clean up a bit, shower, and then get ready to head on in for work.  He’ll leave a note for Yuuya, too, telling him where the spare key is and to lock up since he probably took Yuuri’s when he went shopping yesterday.

His chest feels warm.

Yuuri’s pretty sure it’s not from the soup.

 

 


	6. Talk it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Street performers and the struggle of the mundane. Yuuri and the struggle of...Yuugo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: for the sake of fictional purposes what Yuuri does isn't too illegal. In terms of actual practice irl he might be fired/lose his residency. Thank you.

Yuuya comes back to his apartment to Yuuto on the couch and Yuzu in his kitchenette.  

“Don’t jump to conclusions, I just got here,” she tells him.  “Where were you last night?”

“A friend’s,” he tells her and places his bag on the floor next to his futon.  “He was sort of sick so I took care of him.”  Yuzu gives him an exasperated smile.

“Sort of sick?”

“Yeah,” Yuuya kicks his futon hard, startling Yuuto awake.

“Oh, is it that doctor you met?” Yuzu’s already picking through the clothes he has laid out on his (never used) dining table, shoved haphazardly against the bar area.  She throws a shirt at him that she deems “clean” after she gives it a sniff.  “You seriously need to do laundry,” she tells him.  She throws a black pair of jeans at him.

Yuuya’s pretty sure those are Yuuto’s.

“Wait--”

Yeah they’re Yuuto’s.  Yuuya’s going to wear them anyways.

“It is,” Yuuya waits to see if she throws anything else at him, “he worked a pretty nasty shift, if I remember right.”  Not like Yuuri told him, but with how he practically passed out in his and Kachidoki’s arms Yuuya could only guess.

Yuzu just nods, and throws one of his better plaid shirts at him, “You can tell us all about it at lunch--Mieru sent out a mass text this morning asking if we were game.”

So that’s why his phone went off.

“In front of all of them though?” Yuuya whines.

“You’re the one who was excited enough about me and Yuzu starting to date you announced it at dinner one day,” Yuuto tells him.  “Your turn.”  Karmic backlash.  This is karmic backlash for being too hasty on announcing them.  Yuuya’s going to have to be more careful next time, curb his excitement some so it won’t bite him in the ass later.

“Don’t christen my furniture while I’m in the shower,” he says, scampering out of the way in time before Yuzu could bean him with the nearest object she could find.

(It’s a pepper shaker, plastic-- _thank god_ \--but would still hurt like hell if successfully hit)

Yuuya showers, gets dressed, comes out to Yuuto and Yuzu being _hopelessly romantic_ on his futon (“I told you to not christen my furniture!!”), feeds his birds and replaces their water.  After smooching Peppermint on the beak and placing her back in the cage he opens the window some to allow better circulation.  It’s summer, it’s hot as hell, and his apartment’s AC is pretty crap.

“Ready?” Yuzu and Yuuto are already at the door.

“Do your pants make my hips too big?” Yuuya asks Yuuto as he walks towards them, tying the plaid shirt around his waist and grabbing his bag to pull out his wallet.

“You’re going to need a wide load sign,” Yuuto deadpans.  “I want those back later.”

“Will do, they’re too tight anyways,” and they’re out the door.

The restaurant they all go to for lunch is their usual place.  A mom and pop diner located near the outskirts of the city.  It’s small, quaint, and more importantly it has good food.  With the benefit of being able to deal with a gaggle of street performers whose usual fare is greeting the host with a ventriloquist.

It’s something Nico did once and it sent so many people into a fit of giggles that he kept on doing it.

“Oh, Darling~!” Mieru is, of course, the first to see them despite being thoroughly absorbed in a palm reading of Tsukikage’s hand.  She waves excitedly, and immediately pulls Yuuya into a hug first.  “How have you been?  Mieru’s been too busy to say hi what with everything going on!”

“Been good,” he tells her and eagerly returns her hug.  Yuuto and Yuzu are next, and when greetings were made Yuuya looks around.  “Are we just waiting on Isao?”

“And Hikage as well,” Nico waves with his puppet.  “Apparently they got called out to do a demonstration earlier and it looks like it went over just a bit.”

“ _Juuuust a bit!_ ” the puppet repeats.

"Hikage told me not too long ago that they finished up," Tsukikage holds up his phone.  The text sits there, innocently, followed by the words:

_Go ahead and get a table we'll meet you inside_

"Then onward!" Yuuya cheers.  He leads the entire procession into the restaurant, the group already happily chatting away about the highlights of that mini-children’s day performance they held.

“ _Table for eight!_ ” Nico greets as always, grinning wide, and the waitress seating them laughs along with them as she takes them to their table.

“Mieru saw this _adorable_ child who was really hesitant about learning how to do basic fortune telling!”

“That might have been the same one who came over to sing with me.”

“Didn’t the martial arts learning section just devolve into giving children piggy backs?”

“Isao would answer that one better.”

“Oh, right, Yuuto, did you ever get your guitar back from that one kid who tried to run with it?”

“Eventually.”

“He had to wait until the kid’s parents caught them and took the guitar back.”

“Woooow, wooow Yuuto you got beat by kids--”

The sounds of chairs scraping against the floor fill the air, everyone taking their seats and menus being placed in front of them.  Drink orders are placed (they already know what Kachidoki and Hikage usually get), and it’s back to furious talking.

“So!” Mieru crosses her arms.  “I think we need to do something about that empty space a bit further up the street!”

“In front of that really ritzy shop?”

“ _Louis Vuitton?_ ”

“No, no, it’s probably something like...hrmmm,” Nico shares a look with his puppet.  “Well, it’s still a very nice shop and they sell nice candles.”  

Yuuya takes a sip from his drink, topped with a ridiculous silly straw (a joke from a time they were here a while back), “That’s the spot next to me, right?  No one’s really tried to come and perform alongside us.”  Considering that sometimes they’re rarely there at the same time.  

Mieru nods, “I mean, it’s nice that we have what we have but maybe some variety might spice everything up?”

Silence.

Yuzu fumbles with her fork.

Yuuya slurps loudly from his straw.

“Ah, I see where you’re coming from, we have been the same performers on that street for how long?” Nico starts holding up his fingers.  “Maybe about one, two, three--”

“ _A year or so!_ ” Nico’s puppet finishes.

“Right, a year!  Thank you so much Smiley!”

“But we’ve performed on other streets, too,” Tsukikage says.  “So, it is not as if we’ve limited ourselves to just that one.”

“...have we seen other performers in the city besides ourselves?”

Silence.

“They’re probably in the more ritzy places,” Yuuto says.  “Either that or they perform more towards the afternoon and evening...probably.”

More silence.

Mieru sighs.

“Variety is sorely needed then.”

“What is?” Kachidoki and Hikage make their appearance.  Kachidoki sits next to Yuuya, and Hikage across from Tsukikage.  

"Street Performance," Yuuya answers automatically.

"The empty spot in front of that fancy shop--"

"The Louis Vuitton one."

"Isn't it something else?"

Yuuya doesn't know.  He takes another sip from his drink.  “So are we just going to go and stalk the city in our free time for someone?” that would make them stalkers.

And kidnappers.

Both which are pretty illegal and could land them all in jail again.  It took forever to get Yuuto and Kachidoki out last time.  Which is pretty funny considering Hikage and Tsukikage walk around wearing scarves that cover their mouths most days.  Even now, in this almost unbearable Maiami heat.

“Not stalk, just research!” Mieru grins.  “There’s nothing wrong with scoping out a fellow performers act!”

“But where?”

The waitress comes by again, refills drinks, takes orders, and when gone they’re left with an empty table save for silverware and an unanswered question.  An umbrella (a tiny paper one) has somehow made its way into Yuuya’s drink.

“Well,” Yuzu speaks up, “we can always try to look in uptown Maiami?”

“But who would even want to perform in uptown Maiami?” Yuuya lies his head down on the table.  “I’ve been there before--people don’t even look if you drop your cell phone they just like...walk around you.”

“Maybe step on it,” Yuuto adds.

This whole looking for a new member for their street thing might not go very well, all things considered.  They didn’t even know where to look.  “How about we change the topic to something a bit different, like, how is everyone doing this fine day?” Nico grins.  “Perhaps something good happened to someone recently, hmmm?”

He sends a knowing look Yuuya’s way.

“W-well!” Yuuya flushes.  “I got a good haul in terms of payment the other day so--”

“Oh, right, Yuuya does have something he wants to tell everyone!” Yuzu sounds absolutely delighted.  

Karmic backlash--it’s here.

“What is it, what is it?” Mieru leans in a bit too close for comfort.  “Anything that happens in Darling’s life, Mieru wants to hear!”

“It’s not anything really important I mean so I may have found someone!?” he says it so fast he’s not even sure they all caught it.  

They all did, apparently, because a few seconds later Mieru is screaming.  She’s stumbling back in her chair, caught by Tsukikage before she goes tipping over, and a hand is clutching at her chest.  She might even be hyperventilating, which is worrying.  He doesn’t need to be taking a friend to the hospital because he kind of divulged about his love life.  

“Mieru--”

“What’s she like!?” it’s immediate, and her hands come slamming down on the table.

Kachidoki grabs his cup before it goes spilling over.

“Well, he’s--”

“What’s he like!?” Mieru is quick to change her words, but her tone is still the same.

Yuuya is sweating bullets, “Well, he’s, uhm….really nice??”  One of the twins snorts at this.

Mieru’s eyes narrow.

“And he’s got, uhm,” Yuuya tries to fish for words, “he’s really good with people, but he can be kind of aloof sometimes, and he has purple hair--”

“You!” Mieru suddenly points at Kachidoki.  “You!  What have you been doing with my Darling behind my back!?”

“Absolutely nothing!?” Kachidoki sounds just as offended.

“And he has pink eyes does Kachidoki have pink eyes!?” Yuuya quickly intervenes, standing up and putting himself between the two of them before anything could happen.  “Kachidoki definitely doesn’t have pink eyes nor is he a doctor!!”

Everyone goes silent.

“Doctor?” Kachidoki’s voice is a bit quiet, as if he’s putting things together.

Connecting _point A_ to _point B_.

“....kind of, uhm--”

“So, our Yuuya is wanting to date a doctor, or is dating a doctor.  Always aim high, they say, especially if they have the cash to spare.”

“They’ve been on a date or two already.”

“I--I can’t believe I lost like that!”

Yuuya just suddenly feels tired, “I cannot believe you all.”

“Who ordered the pancake special?” everyone just turns to stare at the waitress, who is standing there with plates in hand.

She blinks.

“Uhm, do you want me to come back?”

Yuuya flops back into his chair.

 

\-----

 

**To:**  Yuuri  
 **From:**  Yuuya  
 _save me from my own friends_ _:(TωT」 ∠):_

The text comes from Yuuya while Yuuri’s in the middle of talking with a nurse over the care of a patient.  He doesn’t get a chance to open it until later, and the entire text, complete with the emoji at the end, makes Yuuri chuckle.

“I sympathize,” he mutters to himself, quickly typing out a reply.

**To:**  Yuuya  
**From:**  Yuuri   
_I can’t leave the hospital yet so I can’t quite do much saving_

“Doctor!” a nurse comes rushing up to him.  “Doctor, we need your help with something!”

“What is it?”

**To:**  Yuuri  
 **From:**  Yuuya  
 _i thought so but like i asked right?_

Yuuri is taken out to the waiting room.  

There’s a circle of patients staring at something, the sounds of a nurse trying to calm down someone, and another looking ready to call security.  “Difficult patient?” Yuuri asks.  The nurse who brought him out into the waiting room nods.  Yuuri sighs, “I understand.”

He makes his way through the other patients to where the frazzled nurse is.  “Doctor!” they sound entirely relieved when he approaches.  “This patient here--he refuses to go in at all!”

“At all?”

That’s curious.

“Is he scared?”

“ _No!_ ” the word is said with so much anger, so much venom, that Yuuri has to take a minute.  He has to take a minute and process what he’s seeing.  Some punk, in a white hoodie, curled up in the chair, and glaring balefully at them with blue eyes.  His hair is an absolute mess, too, and it’s another case of:

_I ran into my doppelganger again but this one’s not as cute as the last one._

Honestly, Yuuri thinks of this one as some personification of all the rage housed inside the body of a tiny dog.  How else could you say one word so angrily?

“Sounds like it to me, honestly,” Yuuri sits down next him.  “I mean, you’re causing a lot of issues for the nurses, and for me quite honestly.”

“ _And?_  I didn’t even want to be here--”

“So unless you want me to call security you’ll cooperate with me, yes?” Yuuri gives him the best smile he can absolutely give.  The one that promises death and pain and a miserable life.

“That’s--”

Yuuri reaches for his phone and the unruly patient shuts up immediately.

“Good, now, let’s start over!  Now, come on to the back,” he gets up, but pauses when he notices that the patient isn’t moving.  “What’s wrong?  Cold feet?”

“Do you take me for some weak ass loser?” a huff.

“Possibly.  You’re not moving.”

Everybody is staring at the exchange with bated breath.  

The atmosphere is tense.

Yuuri is just waiting for a response.

“...well,” the patient shifts, and he looks away.

“Well?”

“...I can’t move...at all.”

That’s worrisome.  Yuuri is already back in front of him, hand to the guy’s forehead to check for a high fever.  “Is your vision swimming any?  Difficulty breathing?” he tries to look in the patient’s eyes, but he keeps looking away.

“No, none of that--okay my vision is blurring a little but look I’m just...really tired?”

A pause.

Yuuri stands back up.

“Can I ask your name?”

“....Yuugo.”

Yuuri nods, “So, Yuugo, can I ask a question?”  Yuugo looks at him with a petulant look, mouth twisted into a pout, and eyes _absolutely bloodshot_.

“Yeah?”

“When was the last time you got any decent rest?”

Yuugo frowns, “Shit...uhm...let me think…”  The bastard actually starts counting _days_ off on his fingers.  “I think there was...yesterday?  No...no, there were those two hours on Wednesday of last week!”

“Two hours?”

Yuugo’s look falls incredibly flat, “Yeah, two hours.”

“No more since then?”

“Probably?  The days are kind of blurred together...kind of like your face.”

There’s no doubt about it, Yuuri’s got it all solved.  “Exhaustion,” he says, and motions for one of the nurses to bring him a prescription pad.  “You’re exhausted.  Somehow you’ve not keeled over from lack of sleep and your body is exhausted.”

“Monster is a student’s best friend--”

“Yes, sure, but I know what you need,” Yuuri writes it all down before ripping the script off the pad and showing it to Yuugo, “bed rest.”  It’s as if the _idea_ of lying down in a bed and sleeping is the worst thing to ever happen.  Yuugo’s eyes widen and he tries to bolt from his seat.  Only, he ends up wobbling and falling on his side.  He’s halfway out of the chair, legs still on it, and he’s looking at Yuuri as if Yuuri were the devil himself.

“N-no, I can’t!” Yuugo sounds desperate.  “Fuck, I can’t, I still have homework to do!  And a test coming up--”

“I’m sure that can all wait, given you’ll have a proper excuse--”

“No, seriously--”

Yuuri looks at the clock.  He’s only got about thirty minutes left.  

He pulls out his phone.

“D-don’t call security, okay, I mean let me explain so I’m an engineering major, yeah?  And the only reason I’m here is because Rin said--”

“Johan?” Yuuri keeps his voice polite and innocent.  “I need help with something, when does your shift start?  Oh, you haven’t clocked in yet good stop by Ambulatory Care--what, no, no I’m not making you cover my shift for me I’m about to get off!”  Yuugo continues to stare with horrified eyes.

“Yuugo,” Yuuri says once he hangs up, “a friend of mine is on his way and we’re going to help you get that adequate bed rest you need.”

“This is illegal practice, I can sue, someone else can--”

“No, no, we’re just taking you back home, or to a hospital bed you can sleep at, which one?”

Yuugo makes a face, “H-home works.”

“Alright, now, why don’t you just sit on back up,” Yuuri moves to help him sit back in the chair properly, “and rest for a bit.”

“I don’t really want to--”

“Rest is good, Yuugo,” Yuuri repeats.  

Yuugo squeaks, “Y-yes, sir!”

“Good, I’ll be right back!” and Yuuri gets up to go and collect his things.  

**To:**  Yuuya  
 **From:**  Yuuri  
 _Sorry I took so long to reply.  There was a difficult patient.  But yes, you did ask.  Perhaps maybe we can try again for another hang out this weekend?  Minus work interruptions?_

Yuuri sighs as he pockets his phone again.  

Maybe no Dennis this time, either.  That way Yuuri won’t have to shove him in the closet again.

**To:**  Yuuri  
 **From:**  Yuuya  
 _no problem work is hard like that yeah?? but i’d love to come over this weekend (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑ maybe we can watch more law and order or a movie?  i can make something it’ll be really great_

**To:**  Yuuya  
 **From:**  Yuuri  
 _That would be excellent!  Then how does two sound?_

“Thank you for your work, Doctor!” one of the nurses calls out as he leaves with his things.  He’s in the middle of clocking out.

“You too, you worked hard,” his words make the nurse blush.

“Have a good day,” and the nurse is walking off, hiding their face.

Yuuri's still not sure what it is about Yuuri walks back out into the waiting room, where Johan is standing there awkwardly in front of Yuugo.

“This is your favor?” he asks.

“Yes, we’re taking him home.”

“We don’t even know where his home is.”

Yuuri looks at Yuugo.  Yuugo’s got his eyes narrowed, face a picture of extreme concentration.  “Well?” Yuuri asks.

“The engineering labs on Maiami U,” Yuugo says.  “In the Stardust Dragon building.”  Pushing interesting names of school buildings aside, Yuuri shakes his head.

“No, where do you _live_ , as in sleep and rest and keep your personal belongings.”

Silence.

“I don’t remember.”

This is going to be a long walk home.

**To:**  Yuuri  
 **From:**  Yuuya  
 _two works!!!_

 

 


End file.
